


Karl Jacobs, Keeper of Tales

by PumpkinPieTimb



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Dream SMP Beach Episode, Dream is an immortal god, Gen, Karl Jacobs-centric, Non-binary Robin (tftsmp), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Robin is a baby and I will die for them, Tales From The SMP, Time Traveler!Karl Jacobs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:40:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28670913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinPieTimb/pseuds/PumpkinPieTimb
Summary: "I don't like it here. I wanna go to the Overworld,""What? Why would you want to do that?""There's nothing but lava and death and misery in the Nether. Meanwhile, the End is freezing and empty and boring. I can only write so many stories with those.""What made you think the Overworld would be no different?"orThe story of how Karl Jacobs became the Keeper of Tales.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 119





	1. Chapter 1

"I don't like it here. I wanna go to the Overworld,"

"What? Why would you want to do that?"

"There's nothing but lava and death and misery in the Nether. Meanwhile, the End is freezing and empty and boring. I can only write so many with those."

"What made you think the Overworld would be no different?"

"I've seen the humans, you know. They visit my realms, some even surprisingly survive. I think they're interesting, unlike those mindless Endermen and barbaric Piglins. I want to know more about them. I want to know their stories. I want to _write and tell_ their stories. I bet I can make _endless_ of tales."

"Hm... do you really want to?"

"Yeah! I'd do _anything_ to go and stay in the Overworld,"

"Stay, you say. _Anything_ , you say?"

"Absolutely,"

"You're more interested in humans and their stories? You'd rather sacrifice your realms for _stories_?"

"Yup!"

"Well... okay then."

* * *

When he woke up, he didn't know where he was. There were green everywhere, there were trees, there was a big bright ball in the sky, that's the sun, and there were animals walking around, everything looked lively. He didn't really know why, but it filled him with so much joy.

He pulled himself up from the grass and laughed giddily. A bee buzzed by and he followed it around for a little bit, just watching it do it's thing. It was the first time he's ever seen a bee. And a green tree, and a blue sky, and friendly looking pigs, and the sun, and a lot of other things!

He took his time exploring everywhere and everything he can. He doesn't know what he's looking for or how long he's been looking, but he knew significant amount of time has passed already, since the sun was already going down.

"Uh, excuse me?"

He jumped at the new voice. There was a child in front of him, they had red hair, a hat and a simple outfit. They look far too tired and mature for a child, so maybe a teenager? But they were so tiny... He wondered what they've gone through in life.

"Woah, uh hello?" He said as a huge grin formed on his face. Something in his mind told him that he finally found what he was looking for. 

The young red-headed teen tilted their head. "Are you okay? You look lost," they asked.

"Oh! No, I'm fine... I was just exploring," he replied, his smile never wavering.

"Ah, I see. Well, it's turning night time. If you don't want to get attacked by mobs, you should probably come with me," they said, pointing at the general direction of their destination.

He nodded. "Yes! Of course!" 

They smiled back and started walking, with him following closely behind. "Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, what's your name?" They asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Karl Jacobs," he answered without missing a beat, surprising even himself. Huh. So he had a name.

"Mm, nice to meet you Karl. I'm Robin." The now newly-identified Robin turned around and offered a hand.

Karl shook it with a happy smile. "Nice to meet you too Robin. So, what's a kid like you doing out on your own? Won't your parents be looking for you?" 

Robin's smile dropped in an instant, they gently pulled their hand away and started rubbing their elbow. "I, uh, I don't have parents..." 

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Sorry for asking," Karl frowned.

Robin smiled, but it didn't quite reach their eyes. "It's fine, it's not like you knew. Anyway, that's one weird outfit you've got there, very colorful." They said, changing the subject. It was probably for the best.

But something inside Karl stirred at the lack of details. A part of him wanted to pry into the story, to know all the information, to know the tale. But he ignored it. For the time being.

Karl looked down at his outfit, a purple long-sleeve with a hood and a swirling, portal-like design in the front that looked for too colorful next to Robin's clothing. He's decided to call it a hoodie. He had black pants and shoes as well.

Then he looked at Robin's torn-up outfit. Huh. "Is it not normal?" He asked.

Robin shrugged. "I dunno, I haven't seen so much color in one place before though."

"Oh,"

"Here we are!" Robin suddenly exclaimed, startling Karl so much that it made him jump into the air.

"What the fuck?" A new, high-pitched female voice screeched from the ground. Wait-- from the ground?

Karl opened his eyes and saw that he was still suspended in the air, as bunch of new people watched him from the ground. It totally didn't make him squeal.

"Robin, pray tell, who is this peculiar man you just brought to our small village?" A man with a mustache and a funny accent asked.

"I-I-I don't know! I swear he was normal a minute ago," the red-head replied.

Karl giggled as he flipped and twirled around mid-air, experimenting on how to maneuver himself, a few moments later he finally found a comfortable position. He laid flat on his stomach with his hands lifting his head, while floating. He watched in amusement as the villagers argued among themselves. 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man in a green robe and a mask came into view. Fear shot through Karl's entire being at the sight of the crudely drawn smiley face on the mask, but he doesn't exactly know why. Like how he doesn't know a lot of things.

The masked man took one look at the arguing villagers, then at Karl, then back to the villagers. Nobody else saw, but the man snapped his fingers and suddenly Karl can see... strings?

There were strings attached to the villagers. Every single one of them, but not the masked man. Karl didn't give himself time to question it. 

He reached out and touched the dark green strings attached to Robin, then he gave it a thug. It made Robin raise a hand. Karl smiled when no one else seemed to see the strings. He went for the black strings attached to a tall cat-hybrid, it made him trip over nothing, making Karl snort.

He was about to grab another, the blood-red ones attached to the mustached man, but then the strings dissapeared. Karl pouted at the masked man. The mask stared back at him, he doesn't see it, but Karl could feel the glare behind the mask. It made him scared and give up.

Instead of trying to make the masked man make the strings reappear, he tried to snap his own fingers. Karl frowned and stared at his hands for a moment.

At first, he thought nothing happened, but when he looked up, he saw all the villagers... _glowing_. They were glowing the same color as the strings attached to them earlier, but their eyes were dull and their features slack. They looked empty and soulless, it honestly looked freaky.

"Hello?" Karl tried. No one answered, but all their empty gazes moved to him. He looked at the masked man for some kind of help, simply because he was able to conjure strings earlier.

The man was glowing bright green, but his body wasn't slack, in fact, it looked almost lazy. The masked-man tilted his head. "Why don't you start narrating?" He suggested.

Karl nodded slowly and contemplated on what he was going to say, barely even registering that the man was able to talk while the others weren't. He didn't even know where to start. What was he even narrating?

_Write a story. Tell a tale._

Karl perked up. He didn't know where the voice came from, but he sure as hell has a lot of tales in mind.

"Robin will you come here?" He tried. The teen stepped forward without hesitation. Karl gasped happily. "Can you act normally?" He asked again.

Robin blinked multiple times before the light in their eyes reappeared, but the dark green glow never faded. "Karl?" They asked.

Karl landed somehow gracefully in front of the teen and started jumping up and down while squealing excitedly.

"Uh, what's happening?" Robin asked nervously.

Karl turned to them with a devious grin. "Time to tell a tale."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Starspices for letting me ramble to them and practically cure my writer's block, this one goes out to you my friend! I hope you like it <3

Karl hummed happily as he walked away from the village. That was fun.

Sure, everyone besides Bob and Jack died, but that was the fun part. He’s kind of sad that Robin had to die, but that was alright, he’ll find new friends… he hopes.

Karl let himself wander around the world after that, just going as far as his eyes could see, he doesn’t really know how long he traveled alone for. A day? A week? A year? Who knows. He started to get bored when he found nothing of importance though.

His mind kept spiraling back to the village, going through the plot, the characters, the conflict. He wanted more of that. He wanted more stories, he wanted more tales. Nothing is interesting in this world anymore. He can’t find anyone else to control.

Karl stumbled upon an ocean during his mindless wandering, he floated above it and just flew around, looking for… _something._ He knows he’s looking for stories, he knows this. But what could he find in an ocean?

The ocean was big and wide and _boring._ There was nothing there. Unless… there were?

Somewhere beyond the horizon, Karl sees a silhouette of something that was getting closer and closer the more he squints at it. Karl decided to fly closer to investigate.

Excitement filled him once again when he finally saw what the thing was up close. It was a ship! A pirate ship to be exact!

That means one thing and one thing only, more tales! Karl hovered above the ship and watched the crew scurry around, they seemed hectic and determined. He wondered why.

Karl flinched at the sound of a loud boom. A canon has been fired, it seems.

He followed the aim of the canon and watched in awe as it hit another ship from a distance. A loud cheer of celebration roared from below him. Karl couldn’t help but clap excitedly.

He watched from up above as the two ships fired cannonballs at each other, steering away from anyone’s line of sight. He could take part in this story, yes, but watching them battle it out was way more fun. They were doing this by their own volition, without him needing to control them, their making a story by themselves. It’s definitely more interesting than directing everything.

Karl let out a loud whoop as the red ship started to retreat. He was rooting for the black sailed ship after all.

Speaking of the black sailed ship, Karl frowned when he saw it crash onto a nearby rock. The crew of the ship jumped out of it one by one, gathering all their materials and helping their injured men. Luckily, the ship crashed near a small island.

“Arr! Of to shore lads! Those Crimson scums won’t be comin’ back anytime soon I tell ya, they’re good as dead there over the Great Barrier Reef!” A thin, bearded man announced as he lead the men.

Karl hummed and decided to meet them, just so he could know more about why they were fighting in the first place. He landed where no one could see him and walked towards their make-shift camp.

“Who goes there?!” A crew demanded when he saw Karl emerge from the shadows, pointing the tip of his sword at Karl’s throat.

Karl chuckled nervously, raising his hands in surrender. “Woah there, no need to be hostile. I don’t mean harm, I just wanted to say hi!” He said cheerfully.

The thin bearded man from earlier stepped forward with a raised eyebrow. “And how do you suppose that would be enough to convince us? Hm?”

“Well, I just saw you guys fighting in the water earlier, then you crashed and I wanted to know if you guys are alright,” Karl reasoned. “And I was curious as to why you were fighting in the first place.”

The man eyed him up and down in a scrutinizing way. He scowled and went to pull out his sword, but Karl managed to snap his fingers in time. The man completely froze and started to glow dark gray, the rest of the crew froze as well.

Karl sighed in relief and stepped away from the sword that was pointed at him. “Phew, that scared the honk out of me… can you please answer my questions?” He asked.

The man straitened and placed a proud hand over his chest. “Well ye see lad, I am Captain Blockbeard! The greatest, most feared pirate in this world. The captain of the crimson ship was tryin’ ta take away me treasure! So of course, we drove them off!”

“Treasure?” Karl grinned mischievously, hundreds of plots and ideas already filling his mind.

“Aye!”

“Hm… I think a treasure hunt sounds quite nice, don’t you think?”

* * *

Karl spent a lot of time writing books for clues and directing what the pirate crew would build, he never slept nor did he barely eat anything, so he ended up really sick and tired. He’s quite sure that he goofed up with some of the clues, but that’s fine.

He didn’t want the crew and the captain to be the ones to participate in the treasure hunt, nor did he want the Crimson people to do it, so he was really disappointed to find out that no one really comes to the small island. He did all that stuff for nothing… it was supposed to be fun…

He wanted someone, or a group of people, to find it. He wanted them to be amazed and enthralled, he wanted to watch them hunt for treasure, he wanted to watch them make a story for themselves. He can’t have those if no one comes here.

Maybe it was because ships are hard to board, maybe it was because traveling through sea isn’t so appealing… yet? Would there be a time when people could just go here whenever they want? Would there be a time when pirate ships are ancient and getting here wouldn’t be so much of a chore? Perhaps…

Karl doesn’t really know the full extent of his powers yet, and he can’t risk ‘waiting’ for that time to happen. He doesn’t want to abandon the island and all his hard work either. He wished he could just fast forward time so he doesn’t have to wait. If only he could go forward in time-

_VWOOP_

Karl stared, mouth agape, at the purple and green spiral portal thing that manifested in front of him out of nowhere. What the…?

He reached out a hand and touched the surface. His fingers disappeared into it and Karl pulled back immediately. He hesitated, and tried again, this time letting his whole hand disappear.

Karl furrowed his eyebrows when he felt nothing on the other side, he could still feel his hand though. With a shrug, Karl plunged into the portal, eyes closed shut.

For a split-second, Karl felt himself falling, luckily he managed to make himself float before splatting to the ground. He looked around and was almost disappointed when he saw the same island that he was previously in, but it quickly turned to wonder when he saw a big red tower, umbrellas and a net in the beach. He didn’t make the pirate crew make those though?

“Let’s play volleyball and George is the ball!”

Karl turned to see a group of friends playing by the beach, they were chasing down their goggle-clad friend who was shrieking in protest. He felt a small smile play in his lips at the sight. It wasn’t like his mischievous, excited, devious, and childish smiles from before, no, it was… soft, almost longing.

“Holy shit is that a pirate ship?!” One of them exclaimed, shaking Karl out of his reverie.

Karl watched them banter and fight and play with each other from a safe distance. They were keen in rough-housing but it was always friendly banter. It was so fun to watch them that Karl didn’t even get to pay full attention to the treasure hunt.

Their friendship was so… interesting, per se. Karl wanted a tale about hard earned treasure hunting, but he ended up watching a group of friends enjoy themselves. He couldn’t help but enjoy it as well.

**Author's Note:**

> So the main premise of this au is that Karl was the Guardian of the Nether and the End. I got that idea from Karl saying he was going for the 'portal look' with his skin. He gave up his position as Guardian in order to be the Keeper of Tales. Dream didn't turn him into an mortal human because he wanted to have some fun and thought giving Karl time traveling and human controlling powers for stories is funny. He erased Karl's memories of himself and being the Guardian of the End and Nether to give him a clean slate and because he didn't want Karl taking back what he said. Dream also took away Karl's immortality that he once had and replaced it with three 'canon lives'. 
> 
> I may or may not add chapters to this... depends on how I feel about the next episodes lol.
> 
> If you have any more questions you can ask on Tumblr @natureismynature
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Kudos and comments are greatly appreciated- <3


End file.
